2023 :: week 26

Summer Week #6 

 

June 25

On Sunday we went tubing down the Cheat River in nearby Parsons, WV. This isn't a typical Sunday activity for our family, but after looking at the forecast the only day without rain was Sunday. To get there we drove about 45 minutes through some of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever seen in my life. It was also the steepest, narrowest trip our van has taken. It was well worth it--it can be difficult to find an activity that all 31 of us can do. The younger kids were able to float either on their parents laps or in the cooler rafts. We had a great time! It was just warm enough that the water felt refreshing and cool. Our only frustration was that we were put in the river one tube at a time and most of the early tubers were the school aged kids, with the adults towards the back. We were hoping that we could join together, but that never happened. Instead there were spread into small clumps. Poor Elliott who doesn't weigh much got stuck in the reeds a few times and both Anthony and I had to walk against the current to get him going again. After we had finished tubing and browsing the gift shop Daniel overhead another patron say "that is  s*** ton of kids."  In the morning, before we emarked on our tubing adventure,  Doug and Tina gave a Come Follow Me lesson. That evening, after the kids were in their rooms for the night the adults gathered to share something meaningful they had learned over the past year. 

June 26

Games were a major part of the week. People spent time playing One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Family Feud, Cards Against Humanity (Family Edition) and Long Shot. In the evening the adults stayed up late playing card games--Hearts and Spades. In this photo Doug is struggling to speak due to a fart joke. Potty humor is usually a win with this crowd.  Additionally a lot of time was spent playing video games on kindles and switches. You could almost always find groups of kids huddled around a kindle watching other kids play. 

June 27

Monday afternoon Anthony, Meredith, Hillary, Tina and I took a group of kids on a "scouting" expedition to Blackwater Falls Park. We were pleasantly surprised by how easy the hike to the falls was, and came back with most of the family the next day. The falls were gorgeous. All week I couldn't get over the beauty of West Virginia. It rained on us a bit while we were there, but we were still able to have a good time. After the short hike we stopped at the gift shop and many people bought souvenirs. We also treated ourselves to ice cream. In the afternoon we all showered and got ready for family pictures. All day we fretted about the weather, but during 20 dry minutes we were able to get some great group pictures. Christmas card picture, check! Pictured are each of our kids with the cousins that are closest in age.

June 28

A puzzle table was set up in the 4th floor kitchen we didn't use for eating. Throughout the course of the week two puzzles were completed. In addition to puzzling the older cousins (minus Sadie and Will) set up a nook where the kids created with perler beads, and made friendship bracelets with polymer beads and also embroidery floss. Other fun things--Alicia brought their bounce house for the smaller kids to jump in. Sadie and Will made "awards" for each of the cousins. Kids spent lots of time playing ping pong, pool, and air hockey in the game room. 

June 29

On Friday we rode the scenic chair lift at the Canaan (pronounced Ca-nane) Valley Resort (same place we took family photos). Unfortunately the Canadian wildfires finally caught up to us and limited the view. The air quality was bad enough that Tina needed to stay inside and several of us got light headaches. We also took the kids mini-golfing after we rode the chairlift. We joked that the resort should have taken photos of our group for their promotional materials because the course was pretty shabby and our group made the place look bumpin'. The Salazars bought BBQ for dinner and everyone spent the evening packing up, preparing to leave in the morning.

June 30

Friday morning we checked out of the house and headed to Pittsburgh. It was hard to say goodbye to cousins, especially after such an amazing week. Thankfully we had something else exciting to help us out of our blue funk. When we realized that we would be so close to Pittsburgh we decided we needed to stop by on our way home and see a Pirates game. Anthony invited his parents because Doug cheered for the Pirates as a child. We had enough time before the game to pay a quick visit to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. We were only able to visit for about an hour but were impressed! Mr. Rogers is from PGH and there was a display of original puppets from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood on display, including Daniel Tiger. We got free bucket hats at the Pirates game, which helped with the heat before the sun went down. The stadium is beautiful! I can see why it is routinely ranked high. The view of the river, bridges and downtown was spectacular. Unfortunately we were exhausted. Anthony struggled to stay awake and we because we knew we had a busy day ahead of us, we decided to leave a bit early. Will was very disappointed. Especially when the game ended on a walk-off homerun after the Pirates rallied and scored three runs in the 9th to defeat the Brewers.

July 1

Our hotel room in Pittsburgh was uncomfortably hot and none of us slept well. We had a hard time waking up Saturday, which put us on the road later than we had planned and we ended up missing the first two innings of the Reds game. The Reds were playing the Padres and lost 12-5. It was a fun game--we saw four homeruns, including two from Manny Machado (not my favorite player). We sat on the top row of the stadium, but directly behind home plate, which were actually pretty decent seats. The Great American Ball Park also has a great view, though it was funny to me that it was actually Kentucky on the other side of the Ohio River we could see from our seats. Taylor Swift was in town for her Eras tour, playing at the Bengals Stadium nearby that evening. The organ played several of her songs throughout the game, and as we walked back to our car it was very obvious who was going to the concert verses who was going to the concert. After eating Wendy's for dinner we drove another two hours to Indianapolis for the night. Anthony and I were feeling very fatigued. As we got ready for bed we could see fireworks outside our hotel window.